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Lithuania premier - Ukraine not yet to sign EU Association Agreement

VILNIUS, November 21, 22:05 /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine has not yet decided to sign the EU Association Agreement, Algirdas Butkevicius, the prime minister of Lithuania, now presiding over the Council of the European Union, said on Thursday, commenting on the stand of the Ukrainian parliament that had not supported any of the bills allowing convicted persons to receive medical treatment abroad.

“I believe Ukraine has already decided not to sign the Association Agreement in near future,” Butkevicius said. He arrived at this conclusion from his impressions about “certain attitudes” among Ukrainian MPs. “They are concerned that relations with Russia might worsen,” Butkevicius said.

The premier, however, said he was still optimistic and hoped that common sense would prevail.

The Ukrainian parliament on Thursday refrained from supporting any of the bills allowing convicted persons to receive medical treatment abroad. The document could have enabled convicted Yulia Timoshenko to leave for a foreign country. The adoption of the bill is one of the main conditions EU imposes on Kiev for the signing of the Association and Free Trade Agreements with Ukraine in Vilnius on November 28.

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